The American Nurses Association (ANA) is pleased to announce the launch of Project Firstline, a new collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) focused on infection prevention and control (IPC) training for the national healthcare workforce.

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the need for a unified and standardized approach to infection control measures. ANA, along with a diverse collaborative of partner organizations at the national, state, and local levels, will provide access to ongoing foundational and practical IPC knowledge for frontline healthcare and public health professionals via engaging web-based training, easy-to-access toolkits, and ongoing tele-mentorship. Using resources allocated to CDC by Congress, Project Firstline will invest $180 million over 2 years to reach all healthcare workers, communities, and settings by engaging numerous national organizations and associations.

The initiative provides core web-based training with COVID-19–specific knowledge about germ transmission and infection prevention and control. Nurses will be able to access training toolkits with printable training guides, factsheets, and communication tools that cover strategies for communicating IPC policies and actions with coworkers, patients, and families. Podcasts, blogs, newsletters, and social media will feature stories of IPC champions and real-life examples of IPC problem solving for applicability to daily practice.

Project Firstline allows nurses to connect with experts via a tele-mentorship program created to build communities of nurses at the local level to help incorporate IPC work into daily practice. This series of educational sessions, collaborations, and platforms will allow healthcare professionals to work together to identify challenges and solutions to common IPC issues. To participate and learn more, contact practice@ana.org.